Posted on 03/12/2009 6:09:59 AM PDT by NYer
ALBANY, N.Y. (CNS) | The possibility the Catholic Church will allow married priests shouldn’t be dismissed, New York Cardinal Edward M. Egan said March 10 during a radio interview.
“It’s a perfectly legitimate discussion,” he said during a talk radio program in Albany hosted by Fred Dicker. “I think it has to be looked at.”
Cardinal Egan was in the state capital as part of a legislative lobbying visit. He also discussed various New York legislative issues as well as the broader picture of the church’s public policy on topics such as same–sex marriage and access to abortion for minors.
Cardinal Egan’s resignation as head of the New York Archdiocese was accepted by the pope Feb. 23. He will serve as apostolic administrator of the archdiocese until April 15 when Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of Milwaukee will be installed as his successor.
In the radio show’s final minutes, when asked about priestly celibacy by Dicker, who also is state editor of the New York Post newspaper, Cardinal Egan said he thought the subject would be coming up for discussion by the church’s hierarchy.
“I’m not so sure it wouldn’t be a good idea to decide (whether priests can be married) on the basis of geography and culture, not to make an across–the–board determination,” the cardinal said. He noted that priests in the Eastern Catholic churches –– such as the Romanian, Maronite or Melkite churches –– are allowed to be married with “no problem at all.”
The Eastern Catholic churches often admit married men to the priesthood in their regions of origin but do not permit marriage after ordination. Outside their regions of origin, the Eastern churches may not admit married men to ordained ministry without a dispensation from the Vatican.
Some married clergymen from other Christian faiths who have joined the Catholic Church have later been ordained as Catholic priests.
In 1980 the Vatican approved special provisions under which former Episcopal priests who had become Catholics could apply for ordination in the Catholic priesthood. Since then several dozen married former Episcopal priests have become Catholic priests. In addition, a few married former Methodist and Lutheran ministers have been ordained Catholic priests.
Frederick J. Luhmann, an author and researcher who has kept track of the ordinations of married men for more than a decade, told Catholic News Service March 11 he counted 93 former Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist clergymen among U.S. Catholic priests currently serving the church.
In 2002 Luhmann wrote a book titled “Call and Response: Ordaining Married Men as Catholic Priests.”
In a 2006 interview with the Brazilian newspaper O Estado de Sao Paolo, Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, who had just been named head of the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy, said that “even though celibacy is part of Catholic history and culture, the church could review this question, because celibacy is not a dogma but a disciplinary question.”
The newspaper went on to quote Cardinal Hummes as saying the shortage of priests in some areas of the world was a challenge, and the church was not “immobile” but “changes when it should change.”
However, a couple of days later he issued a statement to clarify his remarks, saying priestly celibacy was not currently up for discussion by church authorities. He emphasized it was a long and valuable tradition in the Latin–rite church, based on strong theological and pastoral arguments.
From what I’ve read “The few, The proud, The seminarians.” :~)
You don’t need to be married to have sex. Haven’t you been following church news for the last 15 years?
Excellent post! If more married people recognized that *marriage* was their vocation, and that everything else they did was subsidiary, in support of the vocation, there would be fewer divorces, more children ... and more priests, too!
Ya just gotta be today. Talk about a career looked down upon in the secular world. Its almost as bad as choosing to be a stay at home mom ;)
Not for nothing, I can’t tell you how many people told him to wait, he will grow out of it, and why does he want to be a priest.
He has wanted this since he was 8 years old. He is now 17. Still wants it more than life itself. Oh, he has his days, but God always lets him know he has been chosen. There have been many many things that have happened over the years, but one that sticks out in his mind was the following:
He was in school and there was a substitute in the class so they weren’t doing much. A couple of kids they never talked to because they were “goth” kids came over and they were all chatting. These were hardcore goth kids, vampire types, with all the trimmings.The goth kid decided to guess what each of the kids would be when they grew up. He went around from kid to kid and said things like lawyer, doctor, garbage man, etc, til he got to my son. He looked him straight in the eye and said you will be a priest. Ya could have knocked my son over with a feather LOL. There have been dozens of incidents like this, and they always seem to happen when he doubts himself.
He goes for a retreat tomorrow, one of his final for discernment before entering the seminary. I gave him to God when he was born; I guess He decided to take him :)
Excellent answers!
Thank you tax-chick. I also believe that if more would realize their vocation, and lived it, there would be more priests.
Our fidelity to our vocation is sending one to seminary next year :)
I saw that in your previous post. Excellent efforts, and best wishes to your son. One of my boys is interested in priesthood, but also wants to have ten children (and a prime-time herpetology show on “Animal Planet” ;-). I mentioned that women who have both the gumption and the stamina to produce ten children, and also like snakes, are pretty rare, and he said, “Well, there’s you!”
But anyway, Tom is only 12, and I’m sure God will provide more guidance when it becomes necessary. The education he’ll need to get a biology scholarship will also be useful if he decides to enter the seminary!
excellent. It is really up to God to call, He just uses us to guide. All the best to you and your brood, in whatever endeavors they choose to take to make our world a more sane place :)
I would have loved to have had more than 3, “plumbing” problems played havoc there....
And your son is correct. I would not have been able to handle the snakes, although we did have lab rats as pets LOL.
He’s been asking for a rat, too ...
I once imagined having a normal life, but what would be fun about that!
they make excellent pets! Just don’t feed it to the snake LOL.
You do have a normal life, for you. It ends much to quickly so cherish every moment,as I am sure you know and do from the sounds of it! My youngest is 16 this year and my oldest is getting married in Jan..... Cheers!
cool news about your son.
i’m heading in a similar direction :-D
I guess it’s like being an artist/ musician — It’s not what you do; It’s what you are.
Thank you for explaining those erroneous thoughts. I attend a parish in AZ and we have an Irish monsignor, a Philippino priest and an Indian (from India)priest. Priests are to be found.
May the Good Lord put his blessings upon you, and speak to your heart in the language only you can understand, that you will be called to the most holy of orders, a servant of the servants of God.
May you be richly blessed in your vocation and steadfast in your faithfulness. If you are a poster on FR, I imagine you know we are starving for loyal priests.....
Um, not quite sure about that one, although, my seminarian son is quite a musician (trombone, guitar,) and he might agree with you :)
why open that can of worms again?
“There is no place in this country it would seem for MY viewpoint to be accepted.”
In any case, we must be the faithful remnant.
Remember, some of the good seed fell on fertile soil and grew but was then choked by weeds. Don’t let the weeds get to you. Some of the seed was also carried away by birds. Don’t let the bird-brains get to you, either!
Stay spiritually, emotionally, and physically healthy yourself and let God take care of the rest. He predicted many would fall away. Some will return to Him in a crisis. And remember to fight the good fight, like St. Paul said. Mary once said that many people praying the rosary would prevent Russia from spreading her errors. Maybe it’s time to organize spiritual warfare and more prayer groups for America to return to God.
At the risk of stringing in yet one more platitude: all God asks of each of us is to be faithful. It was peaceful and easy to be a Christian in the 40s and 50s; but we have the joy of holding fast in difficult times.
One of my favorite priests once told me I didn’t need to worry so much— God is still in charge.
God bless you for your zeal. :)
No, you just have to be a school teacher it seems.......
sex is a snare? Where in the Bible does it say that...
Indeed, Jesus’ first miracle was making wine so people could have fun celebrating a wedding...
Christians consider sex as sacred in marriage, and frown on promiscuity, but Paul notes that married people are concerned with the family instead of working for the church, so advises church workers to remain unmarried...
It is interesting to note that a lot of Russian Orthodox priests remain unmarried for that reason...
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